Salary negotiations get bungled from either overconfidence (asking with no anchor) or underconfidence (accepting first offers). This workflow produces the specific ask + reasoning + walk-away line so the conversation feels like a real negotiation, not a performance.
Market anchor
Goal: What's the actual market rate for this role at this level in this location?
Salary negotiation prep. Role: [title + level]. Location: [city or remote]. Company stage: [seed / growth / public]. My years experience: [N]. Similar roles I've seen advertised or hold [paste data]. Give me a defensible market range with reasoning for where I land within that range.
Your ask
Goal: Specific number + reasoning + what you'll accept.
Given the market anchor: what's your specific ask? Base salary target + total-comp target + acceptable range. Draft the one-line reasoning you'll give when they ask 'why that number.'
Walk-away line
Goal: The specific number below which you walk. Written down so you don't cave.
Draft your walk-away line — the specific number below which you decline this offer. Include the specific reasoning (compares to current comp, alternative offers, market floor). Writing it down is what makes it real; verbal walk-away lines get renegotiated in your own head during the conversation.
Repeatability, not cleverness.
What lives where when the workflow finishes.
Keep the notes for future negotiations. Every round of negotiation is data for the next.
The same shape, different jobs.
- Contractor rate version: swap 'total comp' for 'daily/hourly rate + minimum guarantee' throughout.
- Promotion / internal negotiation version: adjust market anchor to include internal comp bands + peer benchmarks in the same company.
Try this workflow once. Then decide if it earns a recurring slot.
The value compounds after the third run, not the first.